Hyderabad: The Khairatabad Panchamukha Sankatahara Maha Ganapati was immersed in Hussainsagar on Friday, amid chants and prayers of thousands of devotees and onlookers. The procession began at 10 am, and the 69-foot idol was immersed at 2.40 pm.

According to members of the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee, the scheduled commencement of the procession at 6 am was delayed as the crane used to lift the idol malfunctioned multiple times during the night.

With thousands of devotees watching, the procession went through Meera Theatre road, and towards Telephone Bhavan. Devotees and onlookers inside the lane showered the idol with flowers and confetti, as the idol trudged along on the massive truck.

The idol was then taken from Telephone Bhavan through the Telangana Talli flyover, and then routed in front of the Secretariat. Within minutes, the idol reached Crane 4, which was standing by the immerse the idol. Welders undid the welds and affixation beams at the immersion site, and at 2.40 pm, the idol was ceremonially immersed to chants from devotees.

Preparations for the immersion procession began on Thursday, with the workers removing the supporting wooden beams beside the idol and preparing the massive truck to transport the Bada Ganesh idol and those of Somnath Jyotirlinga and Kali Mata. After the final ceremonies at 10 pm, the organisers began prepping for the lifting of the 50-tonne idol.

The operation to place the idol on the truck began at 5 am, and was completed an hour later. Welders took nearly three hours to affix the idol to the truck to ensure it doesn’t sway during the procession, and at 10 am the procession began.


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